Thursday-Sunday, June 12-15, Metroview Baptist Church (Antipolo)
Our last ministry for the Week 3 Team was ministering alongside of missionaries Chris and Ivy Hurst at Metroview Baptist Church. On Thursday morning, after saying our goodbyes to the Behman family, we boarded our boat in Puerto Galera and headed over to Batangas to meet the Hursts.
After picking up the team (The Cirones, Brandon, Mike, Sierra, Alyssa, and Samantha), the Hursts took us out for a nice lunch and then we headed to their home to prepare for their Thursday pm Bible Study/Prayer service. One nice thing with a smaller team is everyone had multiple opportunities to minister throughout the remaining days of our trip. Alyssa shared her testimony, Mike and Sierra sang a special, and Brandon preached.
For our Friday ministries, the team was able to give their Tagalog introduction and sing a couple of songs at Metroview Baptist Academy’s Parent Orientation Meeting as school would be beginning the following week. To help the parents focus on the information that Pastor Hurst was sharing, the team took all the children and conducted an impromptu Children’s Church. That afternoon, Dr. Cirone conducted an Educator’s Conference/Fellowship with the school teachers to challenge them about teaching with a biblical worldview. That evening, the ladies gathered for a Ladies Fellowship and had a great time as all were encouraged. They really appreciated Alyssa’s special music and Sierra’s lesson on Biblical Love.
On Saturday morning, Dr. Cirone, Brandon, and Mike had the opportunity to join the men at their Men’s Bible Study and Prayer Breakfast. Brandon and Mike shared their testimonies and Dr. Cirone challenged the men to Be Strong and Courageous. After the prayer breakfast, several other church members joined us as we all went out soulwinning–it was exciting to hear that a couple people trusted Christ as their personal Savior. After a nice lunch, the team conducted an afternoon Youth Rally with about 50 present. The young people really enjoyed their time playing games and hearing Brandon challenge them with God’s Word. During Saturday evening, we enjoyed spending time with the Hursts and were able to present them with several gifts. Because Brandon needed to be back in Pensacola Sunday night so he could be ready for his Monday am seminary class, the team said their goodbyes to him as the Hursts took him to the airport around 2:00 am Sunday morning.
For our last Sunday, we had a full plate of ministries including various Sunday school classes taught by a few of the team members, Dr. Cirone preached the Sunday am Service and Mike preached the Sunday pm service. During the morning service, the team conducted a Children’s Church. For lunch, one of the church members treated us to a wonderful lunch which included halo halo. After the evening service, we went back to the Hurst’s home to pack and get ready to leave for the Manila airport around 2:00 am Monday morning.
The Week 3 Team did a wonderful job ministering to both the Behmans and the Hursts and we praise God for what He is doing at both of those ministries as people are being reached with the Gospel of Christ. While in Antipolo, the traffic is beyond comprehension–the analogy is that when one steps on an ant hill and what happens thereafter, that is a great picture of what traffic is like. We even saw a guy riding a bike with his dog in his backpack–the dog was wearing glasses. Also, a special thanks to Campus Church for their Christmas Project love gift that helped build Metroview Baptist Academy’s new school building–they are so excited as they begin school this week!
About 12 hours after leaving Taipei, we arrived safe and sound in Los Angeles around 7:00 am. Thank you for your prayers, and a special thank you to the students who traveled the extra week as they were a blessing to so many. Amen and Amen!
